Last night we had our first Jordanian bloggers meet-up and believe me when I tell you, it was tons o’ fun. Seven bloggers showed up: Roba, Isam, Ammar, Nader, Zaid, the husband and I. As I expected, our Jordanian blogging community is exceptional. [Click any pic for an enlargement]
Everyone is smart, friendly and articulate with a great sense of humor. After we gathered and introduced ourselves we spent a couple hours discussing various issues ranging from the Iraq War to the advent of internet in Jordan to the art of blogging … of course.
For those interested, I will do my best to highlight what went on last night:
Isam, the programmer behind Jordan Planet, talked intensely about the importance of blogging and the image of Jordan it creates for the outside world. He revealed many ambitious ideas for Jordan Planet including creating an Arabic version of the site. Citing the success of Persian bloggers, he pointed out how powerful blogging can be.
Roba expressed some frustration with the lack of awareness about blogging in Jordan, particularly among the youth. “Very few of my friends know what a blog is,” she complained. She also blamed the lack of internet access in Jordan for the limited success of blogging in the kingdom.
Nader shared Roba’s frustration, saying the friends that knew of his blogging labeled it a “waste of time … They just don’t get it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ammar is convinced that many Jordanians don’t realize that they have the right to express themselves. He discussed how the concept of speaking out is just not injected into today’s youngsters and never taught to kids in schools.
Zaid, our quiet blogger, said that the reason he doesn’t blog that often is due to his inner fear of being misunderstood. But he promised to try to post more regularly.
The husband and photographer of our gathering (who also made a bonus image for the event) weighed in on the technical side of blogging and what works best to perfect the art. As for me, well, I was loud and obnoxious as usual. I had a blast!
Zaid, I know 🙂 We fixed it early this morning (7am Tuesday Amman time). Check it out!
oh nevermind, I’m such a bullie 🙁
btw Natasha, my name is Zaid not Zeid :p
Great to see the pics of our fellow bloggers 🙂 Wish my husband & I were there 🙂 We know you, but I never imagined any of the others to look the way they do 🙂 I pictured them differently in mind! even Ammar, whom I know earlier, looks so different 🙂
WOW! feels great to finally see you all. They all looks sooooo friendly and nice! Hope to meet you all soon…
Arash, just for you … enjoy!
NATASHA,
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU GUYS HAD A GREAT TIME. IT IS GREAT THAT YOU GUYS WANT TO GENERATE INFO. IN JORDAN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNET ACESS AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION VIA THE INTERNET.
I CANT WAIT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT YOUR TRIP, AND REMEMBER NOT TO FORGET TO EAT SOME KNAFA FOR ME FROM A STREET VENDOR 🙂
Bloggish Notes
A few bloggy, bloggy notes, collected into one entry: The official InsideBlogging launch press release. Via the Business Blogging Summit blog, here’s an interesting article from Business Week on "the explosive growth of business blogging." St…
Oh, and happy Yalda everyone!
Oh yes Isam, the Persian power 😉
Natasha, I suggest hyperlinking the names in the text to their respective weblogs.
BTW, doesn’t that Raed fellow live in Amman, or you don’t like him or something?
It was a great meeting and really,realy cool. I enjoyed every minute and was really happy to meet u Natasha,Jeff and all of the bloggers.
We need to see the rest of the pictures.
Natasha I’ll be waiting for a christmas visit before you both leave 🙂
Regards and Merry Christmas followed by a Happy New Year 🙂